Trump admin reinstates cuts to mental health grants after outcry
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The Trump administration late Wednesday reversed course and reinstated as much as $2 billion of mental health and addiction grants that it had cut about 24 hours earlier, prompting an outcry from patient advocates.
The big picture: The cancellations had drawn fierce pushback from Congress and advocacy groups, who said the terminations would put vulnerable people's lives at risk and undercut behavioral health efforts.
Driving the news: Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said Wednesday night that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. "bowed to public pressure," adding the cuts shouldn't have been issued in the first place.
- An administration official confirmed the cuts are being rescinded.
The big picture: While the full scope of the reductions wasn't immediately apparent, the National Alliance on Mental Illness had estimated the cancellations affected hundreds of nonprofits and other grantees, with the dollar amount possibly approaching $2 billion.
- The group said the cuts would disrupt programs aimed at suicide and overdose prevention and treatment and mental health awareness initiatives.
- "Our country is not out of our opioid and overdose crisis, it's not out of our mental health crisis from the pandemic, and we certainly are still experiencing record suicide deaths, so it's a dangerous time to be making cuts like this," said Hannah Wesolowski, NAMI's chief advocacy officer.
A copy of a termination letter from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reviewed by Axios earlier on Wednesday cited the agency's "adjusting its discretionary award portfolio, which includes terminating some of its awards" and seeking to align them with current agency priorities.
Editor's note: The story has been updated to reflect the Trump administration's reinstatement of the funding.
